(Press-News.org) More will soon be known about neurodiversity in engineering students, thanks to funding from the National Science Foundation and the efforts of Utah State University College of Engineering Assistant Professor Marissa Tsugawa.
Tsugawa, along with collaborators from USU and Minnesota State University, received $373,508 in funding for their research in identifying emancipatory language and capturing neurodivergent narratives.
“The term neurodivergent refers to a person with a brain that functions significantly different from the societal norm, such as someone with ADHD or autism,” Tsugawa said. “The term is used to celebrate, rather than medicalize, such differences.”
The purpose of this project is to learn and adopt emancipatory language used to describe neurodivergent experiences and perspectives to improve accessibility to engineering programs.
“Receiving this funding will greatly benefit my research in neurodiversity and engineering identity,” Tsugawa said. “I am grateful for NSF and my co-investigators who will help make this project a success.”
Tsugawa’s research, coined “& Research,” aspires to create and support inclusive and accessible STEM education environments through methodological activism. The main theme in their research is exploring people and the identities they hold. Tsugawa conducts engineering education research using intersectionality as a guide to design and approach research.
The project will employ a two-stage, mixed-methods design that leverages social media, machine learning, and narrative inquiry. In the first year, neurodivergent content posted on social media platforms will be mined and analyzed using natural language processing to identify common topics associated with being neurodivergent. Topics will then be categorized as strengths or challenges to provide a working definition to engineering contexts.
The next two years will consist of generating both cross-sectional and longitudinal narratives of neurodivergent engineering students. Narratives will be generated from interviews with students and shared via social media and on the college’s website. As the project progresses, research findings and updates will be posted on the research team’s social media pages and websites.
More information about Tsugawa’s research can be found at ampersand-research.com.
END
Neurodivergent engineering research at USU funded by the National Science Foundation
2023-09-07
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Study seeks to explain widespread inequality for developing diabetes mellitus following gestational diabetes
2023-09-07
September 5, 2023-- Racial and ethnic inequities in diabetes have been established following gestational diabetes, but these inequities are substantial and have been an overlooked facet of maternal health equity, according to a new study by epidemiologist Teresa Janevic, PhD, associate professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Until now there was limited research on racial and ethnic disparities in type 2 diabetes after gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). The findings are published online in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.
“Very few studies ...
New at-home test for gingivitis protects oral health
2023-09-07
Engineers at the University of Cincinnati have developed a new device that can warn consumers about early risks of tooth decay from diseases such as gingivitis and periodontitis.
Gingivitis, the earliest form of gum disease, is caused by bacteria. But not just any bacteria.
The problem for researchers was getting a device to single out the particular type responsible for the disease, said Andrew Steckl, an Ohio Eminent Scholar and distinguished research professor in UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science.
“It’s been quite the challenge to get to the point where we can detect this toxin created by the bacteria ...
Internationally recognized computational researcher Spyridon Bakas, PhD, to serve as inaugural director of Division of Computational Pathology
2023-09-07
INDIANAPOLIS—Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Pathology is launching a new Division of Computational Pathology and a Research Center for Federated Learning in Precision Medicine. Both will be led by Spyridon Bakas, PhD, an internationally recognized computational researcher who brings ten years of experience and NIH grant funding to this growing field that combines artificial intelligence and medicine.
“Computational pathology is a growing area of medicine around the world,” Bakas said. “The idea is to leverage information that exists within tissue slides ...
Two in one: FSU researchers develop polymer that can be adapted to high and low temperature extremes
2023-09-07
The modern world is filled with synthetic polymers, long-chained molecules designed by scientists to fill all manner of applications.
Researchers at FAMU-FSU College of Engineering have developed two closely related polymers that respond differently to high and low temperature thresholds, despite their similar design. The polymer pair could be used in applications in medicine, protein synthesis, protective coatings and other fields. Their work is published in Macromolecules.
“Typically, in order to have one thermal behavior, we have to prepare a polymer for that specific application, and if you ...
New stroke treatment in development at UTHSC
2023-09-07
A study at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center aims to develop a new way to treat ischemic stroke, a leading cause of death in adults worldwide.
The study is funded by a $1,155,000 translational grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health. Jianxiong Jiang, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, and Jiawang Liu, PhD, director of the Medicinal Chemistry ...
New study reveals the power of railroads to buffer coal plants from a carbon emissions tax
2023-09-07
A new study by University of Maryland Economist Louis Preonas provides empirical evidence that railroads are likely to cut transportation prices to prop up coal-fired plants if U.S. climate policies further disadvantage coal in favor of less carbon-intensive energy sources.
One strategy being considered to help reduce the country’s contribution to global climate change is a tax or fee on greenhouse gas emissions by coal-burning power plants. The hope is that such fees will reduce competitiveness of coal-fired energy and consumers will chose lower-emission options at a competitive cost. The new study, published September 7, 2023, in The ...
Mount Sinai scientists unlock secrets of red blood cell transporter, potentially paving the way for new drugs
2023-09-07
New York, NY (September 7, 2023)—Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified the structure of a special transporter found in red blood cells and how it interacts with drugs. Details on the findings, which were reported in the September 7 issue of Nature Structural & Molecular Biology [DOI: 10.1038/s41594-023-01085-6], could lead to the development of more targeted medicines.
The research team, led by Daniel Wacker, PhD, Bin Zhang, PhD, and Avner Schlessinger, PhD, found that this transporter facilitates ...
Research spotlight: History of Adverse Childhood Events (ACEs) linked to increased risk of head or neck injury and concussion
2023-09-07
Altaf Saadi, MD, MSc, principal investigator of the Neurodisparities & Health Justice Lab in the Department of Neurology at Mass General and an assistant professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, is lead author of a new study in the Journal of Head Trauma and Rehabilitation, Examining the Association Between Adverse Childhood Experiences and Lifetime History of Head or Neck Injury or Concussion in Children From the United States.
What Question Were You Investigating?
Is there an association between adverse childhood experiences ...
University of Houston researcher aids in creation of groundbreaking report on invasive species
2023-09-07
A new report by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) presents major findings on the gravity of impacts from invasive alien species on our planet. Researchers found more than 37,000 alien species have been introduced by human activities over the centuries, and this conservative estimate is rising at unprecedented rates. Additionally, more than 3,500 of these are harmful invasive alien species, impacting humans, animals and plants.
Dozens of international biodiversity ...
CAR-T-cell therapy without side effects? Hollings researchers show results in preclinical models
2023-09-07
When Richard O’Neil, Ph.D., joined MUSC Hollings Cancer Center two years ago, he knew that he wanted to continue finding ways to make CAR-T-cell therapy easier on patients.
What he didn’t expect was that a side project – worked on by Megan Tennant, a graduate student in his lab, as a way to keep busy while a key piece of equipment was being serviced – would potentially open up this treatment beyond the world of cancer.
“I don't think that either of us expected that first initial experiment to work,” Tennant said. “But when we saw how well it worked and really started to conceptualize where this could go and how important ...